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Anna is aan het schrijven aan haar scriptie in de bibliotheek.

Anna is aan het schrijven aan haar scriptie in de bibliotheek.
Anna is writing her thesis in the library.

Breakdown of Anna is aan het schrijven aan haar scriptie in de bibliotheek.

zijn
to be
Anna
Anna
in
in
schrijven
to write
aan
on
haar
her
de bibliotheek
the library
aan
at
de scriptie
the thesis
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Questions & Answers about Anna is aan het schrijven aan haar scriptie in de bibliotheek.

Why do we say is aan het schrijven and not just is schrijven like in English “is writing”?

Dutch doesn’t use zijn + infinitive (is schrijven) the way English uses to be + -ing.

To express an ongoing action in Dutch, a very common pattern is:

  • zijn + aan het + infinitive

So:

  • Anna is aan het schrijven = Anna is (in the process of) writing
  • Anna is aan het koken = Anna is cooking

*Anna is schrijven is incorrect in standard Dutch. You almost always need aan het in this kind of construction.

What exactly does aan het mean in aan het schrijven?

Literally, aan het means something like “at the” or “in the process of”, but here it is mostly a fixed grammatical pattern rather than a literal phrase.

  • aan het + infinitive → ongoing activity / something happening right now.

You can think of aan het schrijven as a Dutch way to form a present continuous, similar in meaning to English “writing” in “is writing”, but structurally quite different.

Why do we have aan twice: aan het schrijven aan haar scriptie? Are these the same word?

Yes, it’s the same preposition aan, but doing two different jobs:

  1. aan het schrijven → part of the progressive construction (zijn + aan het + infinitive)
  2. schrijven aan haar scriptie → aan is the normal preposition used with the verb schrijven here, meaning to work on something

So:

  • First aan: purely grammatical (progressive)
  • Second aan: verb + preposition combination (schrijven aan iets = to write / work on something)

You need both in this sentence.

Can you leave out the second aan and say Anna is aan het schrijven haar scriptie?

No, that is not correct in Dutch. With this meaning, schrijven needs the preposition aan:

  • ✅ schrijven aan haar scriptie = to work on her thesis
  • ❌ schrijven haar scriptie (ungrammatical here)

Without aan, schrijven would sound like simply writing her thesis (as an object), but in Dutch, for this type of ongoing work on a long project (like a thesis), you normally say aan een scriptie werken / schrijven aan een scriptie.

So the complete structure needs both:

  • is aan het [schrijven aan haar scriptie]
What is the difference between Anna is aan het schrijven aan haar scriptie and Anna schrijft aan haar scriptie?

Both can describe an ongoing activity, but the nuance is slightly different:

  • Anna is aan het schrijven aan haar scriptie

    • Very clearly right now, at this moment.
    • Sounds a bit more informal and spoken.

  • Anna schrijft aan haar scriptie

    • Present tense with a more general or habitual feel:
      • She is working on her thesis these days / these weeks.
      • Depending on context, it can also mean right now, but that is less explicit.

So if you want to stress that it’s something currently in progress at this exact moment, is aan het schrijven does that very clearly.

Why is in de bibliotheek at the end of the sentence? Could it go somewhere else?

Dutch main clauses usually have this basic order:

  • Subject – finite verb – (other stuff) – rest of the verb

Here:

  • Subject: Anna
  • Finite verb: is
  • Other stuff: aan het schrijven aan haar scriptie
  • Place expression: in de bibliotheek

In de bibliotheek can move, but the meaning/emphasis changes slightly:

  • Anna is aan het schrijven aan haar scriptie in de bibliotheek.
    • Neutral: focus on the activity; location is extra information.
  • Anna is in de bibliotheek aan het schrijven aan haar scriptie.
    • Slightly more focus on where she is.
  • In de bibliotheek is Anna aan het schrijven aan haar scriptie.
    • Strong emphasis on the location (e.g. contrast: not at home but in the library).

All three can be correct; the original order is the most neutral.

What does haar mean here, and how is it different from ze or zij?

In this sentence, haar is a possessive pronoun meaning “her”:

  • haar scriptie = her thesis (the thesis that belongs to Anna)

Compare:

  • zij / ze = she (subject pronoun)
    • Zij schrijft. = She writes.
  • haar = her (possessive)
    • Haar scriptie = her thesis

Note: haar can also mean “her” / “to her” as an object pronoun in other contexts (Ik geef het aan haar = I give it to her), but here it is clearly possessive.

Could haar here also mean “their” (gender‑neutral), or is it only “her”?

In standard Dutch:

  • haar as a possessive usually means “her” (belonging to a female person).
  • The common written gender‑neutral possessive is hun (their).

So haar scriptie is naturally understood as “her thesis”, and since the subject is Anna, native speakers will interpret haar as referring back to Anna.

Why is it de bibliotheek and not het bibliotheek?

Dutch nouns have grammatical gender: de-words and het-words.

  • bibliotheek is a de-word: de bibliotheek.
  • You just have to learn the gender with each noun. There is no simple rule that tells you this one must be de.

Some patterns help (e.g. many words ending in -iek, -tie, -heid are de-words), and bibliotheek fits that general tendency.

Is there a shorter or more natural way to say this in Dutch?

Yes, depending on context, you might also hear:

  • Anna is in de bibliotheek haar scriptie aan het schrijven.
  • Anna zit in de bibliotheek aan haar scriptie te schrijven. (literally “Anna sits in the library writing on her thesis” – also a common progressive form)
  • Anna schrijft in de bibliotheek aan haar scriptie. (more general, not necessarily right at this moment)

All are natural; the original is also perfectly correct and natural.

What is the difference between is aan het schrijven aan haar scriptie and zit aan haar scriptie te schrijven?

Both describe an ongoing action, but they highlight slightly different things:

  • is aan het schrijven aan haar scriptie

    • Neutral progressive: just says she is in the middle of writing.

  • zit aan haar scriptie te schrijven

    • Uses zitten + te + infinitive, which literally mentions her posture / position (sitting) but in practice often just means she’s busy writing.
    • Sounds very natural in spoken Dutch and can feel slightly more vivid or informal.

Grammatically, both are fine progressive constructions.

Does Dutch always need a special form like aan het schrijven to show something is happening right now?

No. Dutch often just uses the simple present:

  • Anna schrijft aan haar scriptie in de bibliotheek.

Context usually makes it clear whether this means:

  • a general / habitual action (she is working on her thesis these days)
  • or something happening right now.

If you really want to stress the ongoing, right‑now aspect, you use:

  • zijn + aan het + infinitive
  • or other progressive types like zitten/staan/liggen + te + infinitive.
Where would niet go if I want to say “Anna is not writing her thesis in the library”?

You would normally say:

  • Anna is niet aan het schrijven aan haar scriptie in de bibliotheek.

Basic idea: in this type of sentence, niet usually comes after the finite verb (is) and before the aan het + infinitive construction:

  • Anna is niet aan het werken.
  • Wij zijn niet aan het studeren.

If you specifically want to negate in the library (and imply she is writing somewhere else), you’d more clearly say something like:

  • Anna is niet in de bibliotheek aan het schrijven aan haar scriptie, maar thuis.